How to become a barre instructor
You may know I’m a barre3 instructor - first in Toronto and now in NYC - but I wanted to share with you a little bit more about my story and tips that I have for anyone looking to get into the fitness industry. I trained as a Barre3 instructor in 2016 and I’m proud to be still teaching in 2022. In 2019 I also trained as a yoga teacher at YogaSpace in Toronto, one of the original yoga studios in Toronto that has a long history of teacher trainings. If you are interested in being a group fitness instructor or yoga teacher I would love to share my thoughts about how to get started. if this is truly something that you want to pursue, my wish for you is to eliminate any fear or hesitation you have.
You might ask: Am I too old to get started? Can I still do this alongside a different career? Do I have to invest a lot of money to get training? Is it too competitive of a market to land a gig? Am I good enough?
For years I was afraid to take my yoga teacher training because of my fear of handstands. I feared that I wasn’t “good enough” to lead. I also felt left out of the fitness world because of my body type. So before I get into more details I just want to say - an instructor body is the body of an instructor.
My History with Fitness
Believe it or not, I have loved fitness from a very young age. Growing up as a dancer, I loved moving my body so when my mum had group fitness exercise videos on VHS, I jumped at the opportunity to join her (anyone remember Sweatin’ to the Oldies?). Of course, so much has changed in fitness now in 2022 but there is something about moving my body and feeding off the energy of a group that I still love to this day!
After graduating from school with my MFA in musical theater, I was working as an actor and auditioning everyday. While living in Boston and NYC I found a few yoga studios that I loved to go to on my times between contracts and I made my buddies that frequented class with me. Flash forward to 2015, and I had to move back to Toronto. I was so sad to leave because I had a routine I loved and made some great friends along the way.
So in 2016 when my new roommate asked if I wanted to try ClassPass, I leapt at the opportunity. At that time, ClassPass was maybe $60 a month for a fully unlimited schedule. I signed up for ClassPass and in the first month attended over 30 classes. By trying so many different studios and styles of classes, this is how I found barre3 and so many studios I fell in love with. If you are from Toronto and looking for recommendations I’ll list a few of my personal favorites from that time plus some new options:
barre3 Toronto (Downtown & Leslieville)
Extension Method (Extension Room)
Fly Queen West (permanently closed)
YogaSpace (where I did my YTT)
Ahimsa Yoga
Toronto Yoga Co. (Yoga, Barre & Reformer)
Chi Junky
6ix Flow (I used to teach there!)
Lagree
Muse Movement
Barreworks (now Toronto Barre Collective)
Starting with ClassPass was such a great way to explore the city, make friends and learn about what I really wanted from a fitness routine. Some coaches’ styles were just not my favorite, but it doesn’t mean that it might not speak to someone else. For me, I discovered how much I loved feeling included - whether that was a friendly greeting when entering the studio or even just making eye contact during class. Great instructors always made me feel included, no matter my level or what I looked like (unless I needed adjusting for form of course!)
Another thing I loved was encouragement but also those instructors who encouraged breaks, modifications and taking it one step at a time. As someone who loves yoga - it was also nice to learn how to balance my overall routine by pairing more intense fitness classes with low-impact workouts that incorporated breath work, meditation and/or stretch.
After taking over 100 classes, I really settled into picking my favorites and working them into my weekly routine. One of the studios I fell in love with was barre3, so when an opportunity came to become an instructor myself - I knew it was the path I had to take. After being a long time client of barre3 I was chatting with one of my favorite instructors after class (we had matching blue leggings that day!) and I told her how I grew up dancing and I’d love to be an instructor one day. Lucky for me, her boss was in search of new instructors at the time and she connected me with her to audition. Because barre3 is a studio that has their own method, I auditioned and was approved to go for training. I flew to Portland, Oregon, the headquarters of barre3. The main training was over a weekend, but I had weeks of preparation with my mentor in the Toronto studio and weeks of practice after teaching community classes (classes at a discounted rate).
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For barre fitness, there are many different ways to get started. For anyone wanting to pursue fitness or specifically barre…
Here are my tips.
Try Studios in your Area
Be-friend an Instructor
Research the Training Requirements
Connect with the Community (in-person or online)
Continue to Train
1. Try Studios in your Area
As I explained with my personal story about finding barre3, taking classes at studios in your area will help you so much more than just scoping out a job prospect. By taking classes in your area you will discover what you want in a studio, a class, an instructor and overall vibe. You might start your search looking for a certain style of fitness and realize it’s not what you or your body want to be doing on a daily basis. Once you find a studio you love, it might be time to look into how to become an instructor there.
2. Be-friend an Instructor
One of the recommendations I received from my Yoga Teacher Training was to make connections with your instructors or teachers after class. Whether it’s a conversation after class or an offer to take them out to coffee to pick their brain - it never hurts to put yourself out there and make a friend. Whether you have training or you’re just getting started, asking for advice might help steer you in the right direction for your next step. There are so many different paths you can take to becoming an instructor and learning about someone else’s journey might help inform yours.
3. Research the Training Requirements
If you are getting a bit more serious about wanting to pursue a career in fitness, the next step might be to research the requirements you’d need to teach the style of fitness you want to teach. Personal training, spin, yoga or barre will all have varying certifications and ways to get started. From my personal experience, barre fitness is inspired by dance so you find many trained dancers falling into the field - but the actual barre training itself is often studio-specific. This means that if you want to do a general training (for example, Merrithew has a “Total barre” training course) and then apply to jobs as a barre instructor, an individual studio may still require their own specific training before you can teach their method.
Before signing up for a training, I think it’s important to ask yourself what you are looking to gain from the course. If you are looking to deepen your knowledge and understanding of the body and this specific method, a general training might be a great fit for you. This could also be a great idea if you have entrepreneurial aspirations to start your own studio or business. If you are taking a specific method that can only be taught at one studio, the hope would be that they intend to hire you. Don’t be afraid to ask about the hiring process if a studio is teaching you their specific method. Most trainings will be upfront with you if they have no intention on hiring recent graduates of their programs.
I found a large contrast in the yoga teacher community, where the general training was basically universal. Many yoga teachers do their training abroad with a training retreat or even studying in India. With more of an expectation that you train anywhere, I find yoga teachers often teach at multiple studios or start their own studios. It was also very clear in my training that I would get the opportunity to teach free community classes at the studio, but that most of their teachers had many more years of experience and there was secondary training needed to be on their roster.
There is not one perfect way to dive into the fitness industry, but a great way to get started is finding the training that suits you and your goals.
4. Connect with the Community (in-person or online)
Whether you’re looking to teach locally or online, it can be extremely helpful to connect with your community. There are often ways to connect through social media to other instructors in your location as well as instructors that teach the style of fitness you teach.
Having instructor friends can be the easiest way to find out about studios that are hiring in your area as well. I have been a part of instructor or yoga teacher subbing groups online that provide a space for other teachers to request for substitute teachers when they can’t teach their regularly scheduled classes. Keep in mind that this type of class coverage happens with studios that don’t require a certain method of teaching. If you train in a specific studio’s method, they will do subbing within their own staff.
5. Continue to Train
Never stop learning. If you’ve started to dip your toes into becoming an instructor or teacher, one of my biggest tips is to always think of yourself as a student. Trainings can be very expensive, so if you start teaching at a studio and you’re looking for more training - start by taking other instructors’ classes at your own studio. Taking class is a great way to keep up your skills and observe other teaching styles. As an instructor, when your schedule fills up, the harder it is to hop into someone else’s class - but I encourage you to try.
Now when speaking specifically about teacher training, some methods lend themselves toward more extensive study. Yoga usually starts with 200 hours of teacher training and then you can take the next level of training which adds 300 hours of more courses (ex: restorative yoga, philosophy, etc). Pilates is another style of teaching that requires a lot of study and has many additional courses to add (for example, reformer Pilates). Becoming a personal trainer also requires study and practical hours of training. If you’re looking to make this your full-time career, it is possible to teach in just one method, however you might want to expand your skills and knowledge to teach more styles or take on private clients.
Want to know more?
If you are curious about being an instructor, I hope that these tips can help you to get started or to take another step towards your goal. If you are reading this and very serious about becoming a fitness instructor or you are one already but want to know more, please reach out to me - I love to chat about all things fitness and going after your goals! I may also do a follow-up blog about what you can do beyond just getting started. Thank you for all of your support and I hope this inspires you to chase after your dreams.